Turnback Creek (Widowmaker) (18 page)

I
t was a deluge.

It was raining so hard no one could see. It was as if all of the rain that week had been leading up to this. Creek beds and mountain streams overflowed quickly from the runoff at the top of the mountain, and tons of water started down.

“I can’t see a damned thing!” Hoke yelled.

The rain was falling with such force that the sound of it was deafening.

Rome leaned over and shouted into Hoke’s ear, “I remember why they call this Devil’s Basin!”

“Why?”

“ ’Cause it fills up like a son of a bitch when it rains!” Rome said. “They’re gonna drown, and we can just go down and get the gold.”

“But the gold will be underwater, won’t it?”

“The basin drains almost as fast as it fills when it stops rainin’,” Rome said.

“So, all we gotta do is wait out the rain?”

“Right,” Rome said. “It should do our work for us.”

“What if they try to leave during the storm?”

“My guess is they have a lame horse,” Rome said. “That’s why they were down there in the first place.”

Their horses were starting to get skittish from the rain.

“We’ve got to move these horses back and calm them down,” Rome said. “We have to make sure we don’t end up afoot.”

“Let’s do it, then,” Hoke replied.

As they started to lead their horses back from the edge of the basin, something suddenly bolted past them.

“What was that?” Hoke yelled.

“It was that other horse,” Rome said. “It’s runnin’ down there to drown with them.”

“Let’s get our horses to safety,” Hoke shouted.

Locke and Cooper had taken shelter beneath the buckboard, but they were already up to their shins in water. The water was running down from both sides of the basin, but not from where the road led in and out.

“We could get away if we could get up this road,” Cooper said. “Maybe the horses will be frightened enough to move, even the one with a bad hoof.”

“We’d never make it,” Locke said.

“We can’t stay here,” Cooper said. “We’ll drown. This basin fills up fast when it rains like this.”

“You knew about this?” Locke demanded.

Cooper nodded. “I was warned not to come this way,” he said. “It’s called the Devil’s Basin.”

“And for good reason, obviously,” Locke said. “We have to get out from under here.”

The water was knee deep, and they could no longer remain under the buckboard.

“I can’t see up the slope,” Cooper said, “but I hear something.”

They both looked up. Visibility was nil, but suddenly a horse burst into view, eyes wide and nostrils flaring. It was flailing about in the knee-deep water, unsure which way to go.

“That’s my horse!” Cooper said.

“He got loose,” Locke shouted. “Grab him, and get the saddle off. I have an idea.”

While Cooper grabbed his horse, Locke went to the team and unhitched the lame horse. Cooper brought his mount over without the saddle, and they hooked it up to the buckboard.

They scrambled into the buckboard. Locke grabbed the reins and flicked them at the frightened horses. The lame horse had already wandered its way up the slope and out of sight. The other two, however, were not used to being a team. They were not pulling together, and the weight of the gold in the water was holding them back.

“We should mount them and ride out,” Locke said.

“I’m not leavin’ the gold!” Cooper shouted.

“It’ll be at the bottom of the basin, in the water,” Locke said. “They won’t be able to get to it.”

“The basin drains as fast as it fills, once the rain stops,” Cooper said. “At least, that’s what I’ve heard.”

“Damn it, Coop.”

“Go ahead and leave,” Cooper said. “I’m stayin’.”

“Our guns are wet, and so are theirs.” Locke tried again. “If they come down here, we can’t fight them off.”

“I tol’ you, go ahead and leave!”

“You’re still a stubborn old mule,” Locke said. “I’ve got another idea.”

“Let’s hear it.”

Locke told it to the ex-lawman, who listened intently. “That’s still leavin’ the gold.”

“Not if they go for it,” Locke said. “If they think we got away with it, they won’t come down here or even wait for it to drain. They’ll just look for a way around so they can get back on our trail.”

Cooper was unsure.

“If we stay much longer, Coop,” Locke said, “we’ll drown.”

“All right, damn it!” Cooper said. “Let’s try it.”

They both got in the back of the buckboard and started unloading the gold.

W
ith the weight on the buckboard lessened, even the mismatched team was able to pull it out of the basin. Once they reached the top of the slope opposite the seven men, they stopped. They couldn’t see anyone, and no one could see them.

Since they were out of the water, they were able to get out of the rain by crawling back beneath the buckboard. They hobbled the horses so they couldn’t drag the thing right over them.

“This better work,” Cooper said. “If I lose that gold—”

“I don’t want to lose it any more than you do, Coop,” Locke said, cutting him off.

“Yeah, but for different reasons.”

“The right reasons.”

“Right for who? At my age, John,” Cooper said, “I’m only concerned with what’s right for me.”

“Well, I’ve heard that about old folks, Coop,” Locke said. “They get real selfish … and cranky.”

“I’m cranky because I’m wet,” Cooper said. “Bein’ old’s got nothin’ to do with it.”

The ground was soaked, with water running beneath them. They tried sitting on the one slicker they had, but it did little to help. All they were really able to do was clean their weapons and then keep them dry. When the rain stopped, they were going to need them.

“I guess this is the big storm Molly said was coming,” Locke said. “If you knew about this basin, why did you ever come this way?”

“It’s the shortest way over the mountain,” Cooper said. “How was I to know I’d get stuck right at the bottom of it?”

“Fate,” Locke said.

“What?”

“It was fate that you got stuck there, so I could catch up to you.”

“It was a bad break, that’s all,” Cooper said. “After we’re finished with these men, we still have our own business to finish. I’m still takin’ this gold, John. I deserve it.”

“The miners have worked for it, not you, Coop.”

“Bullshit!” Cooper said. “I worked real hard for it, believe me. And I’m still gonna work harder, thanks to this plan of yours.”

“At least we know no one will get to the gold for a while,” Locke said. “How fast did you say the basin drains once the rain stops?”

“I don’t know,” Cooper said. “I just heard stories. I never expected to have to time it.”

Locke was starting to wonder if the rain would ever stop.

The rain stopped at night, so even without the driving downpour, they couldn’t see anything.

“What if they’re sneakin’ up on us in the dark?” Cooper asked.

“They’re not moving, Coop,” Locke said. “They couldn’t see through the rain, and now they can’t see in the dark. There are still clouds, and they’re blocking the moon. Don’t worry, when the sun comes up, we’ll be here, and they’ll be all the way on the other side. It will take them hours to work their way around.”

“And what will we be doing in the meantime?”

“Getting ready for them.”

When morning broke, the seven men got to their feet and looked down at the basin. It was more than half filled with water.

“I thought you said it drained quick,” Hoke said to Rome accusingly. He pointed his finger. “It stopped raining halfway through the night, and there’s still a ton of water down there.”

“I don’t know,” Rome said with a shrug. “That’s just what I heard.”

“Where’s the buckboard?” Turpin asked.

“It’s underwater,” Eli said. “They’re all underwater.”

“I don’t think so,” Bailey said.

They all looked at him.

“What are you talkin’ about?” Hoke asked.

Bailey pointed, and they all looked. They saw across the basin from them the buckboard, with two men standing next to it.

“What the hell?” Rome said.

“They got out?” Hoke said.

“Looks like,” Rome said.

“But why didn’t they just leave?”

“In that downpour?” Rome asked. “They couldn’t see any better than we could.”

“Well, they can see now.” Hoke’s tone was still accusatory as he glared at Rome.

“And so can we,” Rome said.

“Hey,” Sharp said. “What are they doin’?”

They all turned their eyes to the two men across the basin again.

“They’re holdin’ somethin’ up in their hands,” Hoke said.

“Somethin’ shiny,” Turpin said, squinting his eyes.

“Whadda they got that’s shiny?” Eli asked.

The seven stared at the two, who were both holding something over their heads that reflected the sun.

“Gold,” Rome said.

“What?” Hoke asked.

“They’re holding gold over their heads,” Rome said.

“The bastards have our gold!” Turpin said.

He raised his rifle to fire. Rome shouted, “No!” but Turpin pulled the trigger, then levered another round into the chambers and fired again. Four other men started firing, and then Rome saw Hoke firing angrily as well and figured … what the hell.

L
ocke and Cooper scampered for cover as bullets began to whiz past them, striking the back of the buckboard.

“We’ve got to move the horses before they get hit,” Locke shouted.

They both ran to the head of the team and quickly walked them away from the edge and down out of sight.

“I guess they saw the gold,” Cooper said.

“Yeah,” Locke said, dropping the two handfuls of gold coins he had been holding into one of the empty crates. “Luckily, they don’t know that we only have two handfuls each.”

“What do you think they’d do if they knew the rest of it was underwater?” Cooper asked.

“They’d probably dive in after it,” Locke said. “But nobody’s got any hope of getting to those coins until that basin drains.”

“And who knows when that’ll be?” Cooper asked.

“I thought you did,” Locke said, “but I was wrong.”

“I told you,” Cooper responded, “I only know what I heard.”

“Well, I guess we’re going to find out for sure.”

Across the basin, all the men except Hoke Benson and Eddie Rome were panicking.

“They got our gold,” Eli cried.

“They used the cover of the rain, and the night, to get it out of the basin,” Hoke said. “They must have hitched that stray horse to the buckboard.”

“That means they’ve got a mismatched team,” Rome said. “Horses in teams work together, and they don’t like it when strange horses are next to them. They’ll have some trouble for a while. That’ll slow them down.”

“We have to work our way around to the other side and pick up their trail,” Hoke said.

“Why don’t we go across?” Turpin asked.

“The water level is too deep, so shut up, Roy.”

“I thought you said it drains fast,” Eli said.

“Not that fast,” Rome replied. “We can’t afford to wait. They’ll get too far ahead of us.”

“Let’s go,” Hoke said. “We can push the horses, because they’ve had a long rest, thanks to the rain.”

“When do we get to eat?” Bailey asked.

“When we get the gold,” Hoke said, “we’ll eat.”

He and Rome mounted up, and the rest followed. Eli reached into his saddlebags and brought out a hunk of beef jerky.

“Here, Bob,” he said. “Chew on that.”

“Thanks.”

Some of the others reached out and grabbed some jerky as well, chewing on it as they followed their two leaders.

Locke and Cooper were on their bellies, peering across the basin while trying to avoid being seen themselves.

“I think they rode off,” Cooper said.

“Let’s give it some time,” Locke said. “It’ll take them hours to work their way around.”

Cooper looked at Locke. “If the basin doesn’t drain quickly, what do we do? If we wait here, we’ll have to face the seven of them when they reach us.”

“Well,” Locke said, “one of us could take the buckboard and lead them away.”

“While the other one stays here with the gold?” Cooper asked. “I’m for that. I’ll stay with the gold.”

“I don’t think so, Coop.”

“Even if I could get down there to it, how would I get away with it?” Cooper asked.

“I wouldn’t put it past you to have another accomplice trailing us,” Locke said. “No, I’ll stay with the gold, and you lead them away.”

“Not a chance.”

“I don’t have an accomplice trailing us,” Locke said, “if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“I’m not letting that gold out of my sight.”

“Well, it’s out of your sight now, Coop,” Locke pointed out. “It’s underwater.”

“It’ll be there when the water drains.”

“Maybe.”

Looking alarmed, Cooper asked, “What does that mean?”

“Well … when it was in the wooden chests, it was pretty heavy, but I don’t know if each individual coin will be able to resist the current, depending on just how quickly the water does drain.”

Cooper turned to face Locke. “Why didn’t you bring that up before?”

“This was the only plan I had,” Locke said. “So far, it looks like it’s worked pretty well.”

“So far?” Cooper asked. “You wouldn’t really care if the coins drained out with the water, would you? Just so long as I don’t end up with the gold.”

“We’ll just have to wait for the basin to drain out to find out for sure, won’t we?”

“And manage to fight off seven gunmen with gold fever.”

“Oh, yeah,” Locke said. “That, too.”